FMQs: Wipe 'toxic' council tax debt keeping families in poverty
The Scottish Government must support changing the law and wiping ’toxic and unpayable’ council tax debt as part of their efforts to end child poverty in Scotland, says Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer MSP.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Ross raised the following question:
“Yesterday the First Minister said it is our moral imperative to eradicate child poverty. He is right to highlight that Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is decreasing.
“But one in five children here still live in poverty. One in five children in one of the richest countries in the history of the planet.
“Children who arrive at school hungry. Children who will sit in freezing homes this winter because their parents can’t afford their increased bills.
“They need the Scottish Government to do more. Many of these children’s families are in huge amounts of debt, often including council tax debts.
“A few weeks ago I shared with the First Minister that the rules around council tax debt in Scotland are nearly four times as harsh as they are in England. The debts are held and chased for twenty years here, as opposed to six in England.
“The same councils providing free school meals to children in poverty at lunchtime are sending the sheriff’s officers to their doors after school.
“Does the First Minister think that it's right to chase desperate people for often unpayable debts for four times as long in Scotland as in England - Or does he agree that it's time to change the law and wipe out these toxic, unpayable debts?”
The First Minister responded with the measures the Scottish Government are taking to eradicate child poverty, and said he was open to dialogue with the Greens about taking forward our proposals.
In his second question, Ross asked if the Scottish Government will support his upcoming amendment to the Housing Bill that would wipe historic council tax debt and reduce the time frame for collection efforts down from twenty years to five years.
Ross said:
“I’m grateful to the First Minister for his answer. He is absolutely right to list the policies that the Scottish Government are delivering here that are not available to families in the rest of the UK. The Greens were proud to work with his party to deliver a number of them.
“But his mission is to eradicate child poverty and he knows that everything he’s announced so far just won’t do that.
Sally-Ann Kelly, the chief executive of children’s charity Aberlour said not long ago:
“It is meaningless for ministers to prioritise child poverty and promise to help families struggling to get their heads above water while other public sector organisations are pressing them down.”
“Sally-Ann is right. That’s why Aberlour wrote to the Government to support Green amendments to the Housing Bill to bring Scotland’s time limit on council tax debts down from twenty years to five.
“I hear the First Minister’s support for the principle behind this. Parliament will vote on the amendment on Tuesday. It would wipe out millions in toxic, unpayable council tax debts that are trapping families in cycles of poverty and financial crisis.
“So, will the Scottish Government support this Green proposal, wipe out this debt and give thousands of families the chance they desperately need to escape from poverty?”